Set in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Seoul, the Audeum Audio Museum is the first museum in the world dedicated entirely to sound, treating audio not merely as technology but as a cultural artefact worthy of preservation, study and artistic interpretation. Audeum offers something rare: a museum that lets you hear history, not just see it.
Designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, Audeum is conceived as an “indoor forest”. Its façade is clad in slender aluminium pipes that filter light like a woodland canopy, creating shifting patterns across the interior as the day moves on. The architecture is intentionally restrained, with few visible windows or mechanical elements, allowing visitors’ senses to settle before they engage with the exhibitions inside.
At the heart of Audeum is its permanent exhibition, Jung Eum: In Search of Sound, which explores the idea of “good sound” through the evolution of high-fidelity reproduction. The collection spans more than 150 years of audio history, from Edison phonographs and Western Electric horn speakers to mid-century icons such as the Lansing Iconic and JBL Paragon. These machines are presented not simply as engineering milestones but as cultural objects that shaped how generations experienced music and media. Because each person’s relationship with sound is personal, subjective and emotional, Audeum pairs these historic pieces with contemporary curatorial storytelling, allowing visitors to reflect on how they themselves connect with sound.
